How It All Ends
by missrynne
Summary: And this is how it all ends.


**How It All Ends  
><strong>missrynne (un-beta-ed)  
>pg-13 | friendship, general | zidanegarnet, hints of other couples | oneshot  
>disc! final fantasy ix and its characters © square-enix<br>And this is how it all ends.

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><p><strong>Author's Note:<strong>  
>definitely my most favorite final fantasy ever, and my first as well! ...and I wrote it a oneshot killing them all. Sigh. orz. It's been sitting in my phone since last year, and was supposed to be the first fic I upload to this account, oh well.<p>

oh, and i love each of them, just thought that i need to say that haha.

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><p><strong>How It All Ends<strong>

One of life's biggest secret was how everything's going to end, along with when the time's going to come. Some people wished they knew when their limit would be, so that they would be able to live their fullest before the time comes, while some just simply glad that fate decided to keep her mouth closed. After all, where's the fun in knowing everything?

But sometimes the finale could be just predictable enough for some people to foresee.

Which was why no one really surprised that amongst the eight of them Vivi was the first one to go. Really being the keyword here, because no matter how obvious the fact was, they never thought it was going to be so soon –it was going to be _this_ soon.

The black mages said that they didn't even realize the younger was gone. He was just taking a small nap after helping Mr. 238 to fix his Black Cat Synthesis shop sign. They thought he over-exhausted himself, and so they left him be until the next time the sun rose, when they realized Vivi Ortinier wasn't going to be with them anymore.

Contrary to popular beliefs, Vivi's funeral was small and quiet for only a few of the black mages and genomes mourned on his grave. And so it was months after when the party decided to check on one of their youngest members that the news was finally out.

Upon his final resting place, Zidane was suddenly lost at words, because it was Vivi; a little brother, and little brothers should be the one who mourn on their big brother's graveyard, not the other way around.

It was Eiko who finally cracked the silence, muttering something about how Vivi wouldn't like if it if they were bringing tears along when they see him, which was why the date then be marked as another reunion time for them, along with the promise to bring blue daisies, the ones that Vivi once said was the most beautiful flower he had ever laid his eyes on, with them ever year.

It has been quite a while ever since they lost someone that the reality of losing another felt like it was the first time all over again.

A Burmecian came one morning when the royal family of Alexandria was having a breakfast. All of a sudden everything felt like it was years ago, a rush of déjà vu of when they stood in Regent Cid's chamber, all young and new to war and deaths and blood and alike, with chills running through their body as the messenger talked through haggard breaths of how his kingdom was no longer. And the King and Queen didn't need to wait for him to finish his message before knowing it was Freya.

From the words that came from the soldier, it seemed that Freya didn't regret it at all, and for that fact alone they were glad for her. The Dragoness met her end while fighting alongside Sir Fratley, both working together for the last time to safe their kingdom from the attacks of monsters that came upon them one day.

"Troublesome woman," the now six-man party heard Amarant muttered discreetly on her grave. The rest of his speech was muffled by the falling of eternal rain in Burmecia, but they knew that he too felt great lost of a friend.

The team then decided to finish the day by hunting some Grand Dragons in Popos Heights, or something about _'let's not let the rat woman get all the fun'_ courtesy of the aforementioned red head. By night time they were all spent; lying on the grass with the mist less starry sky high above them; no one admitting that they did wish at least once to be able to see a spear falling from the sky one more time, hitting the monsters head on before seeing the Dragoness lands flawlessly beside them with a small satisfied smirk adorning her face.

It seemed that bad luck was on the knights of the team for that it was Steiner who's left bedridden then. The ever so proud former Captain of the Knight of Pluto could only nod slowly as Beatrix stepped aside, bringing the Queen and her King behind her to his view.

Charcoal orbs fixed to the bed coupled with nervous, timid footsteps before she reached his side, and Garnet could no longer hold her tears as the fatherly figure that has been her loyal knight for so long let her caress his white-grayish hair shakily.

"As a man who used to lead the male squadron of Alexandria, you are not giving a good example," she whispered disappointedly, yet her eyes filled with love and care for the worn man before her, "Do you wish to leave the royal family unprotected?" She was still not giving up, still hoping that she could somehow stop this nonsense. Because knights don't die; her knights shouldn't die. Because there's no way, there's just no way Adelbert Steiner would ever go against his words yet again vows to protect her until the end, which she would never accept to be now.

"Where had your courage and determination gone to? For you to ignore your sworn duty?"

"My queen," Steiner began after a full minute long, "You of all people should know that I would never leave you alone. Never. Even after your hand on marriage with _this thief_," he added with a half smirk as he directed his eyes to his now king.

"Didn't expect anything less, Rusty," Zidane replied with a smirk of his own, and that moment Garnet finally realized that even when they did argue every single day, the two men had actually came to an agreement of their own.

And that was to protect her. For her sake.

"But now you have your own knight, and I trust that he too would never leave you in the hands of danger." Steiner muttered breathlessly. "I apologize for no longer being able to serve you, but you should know that my loyalty never once waver.., princess..." He finished as he closed his eyes, breaths getting shallower, and Zidane put a hand on his wife's shoulder, calming her as well as signaling their leave.

And between the tears and hiccupped sobs, somehow Garnet didn't miss her husband's last word to the knight;

"Rest well, Captain Steiner, you've done your job."

The next death came as silent as a thief in the night. All they knew was that Quina told them that s/he would be visiting Quale back in the marsh where s/he came from.

"Quina go tell Master Quale food from all over world," the blue magician explained when s/he was asking for a permission to take a few days off of his/her duty as the main cook in Alexandria. But what Garnet missed was the whispered continuation of "Quina think it soon," that followed.

So it was on another year that what's left of the original party decided to visit Qu Marsh again, in hope not finding their friend back to his/her old frog-catching past. Finally reaching the abandoned-looking house, they were disappointed in finding that no one seemed to live there for so long, if the thickness of the dusts in Quale's place were anything to go by.

With that in mind, the group decided to visit the other three marshes, only to stop when the all grown Moggy told them that their friend has gone to an unreachable place.

Oddly enough, no one shed a tear for the belated ex-chef. The only words that could be heard were from Zidane, who then declared the day as their new playing-in-mud day. The rest of the team took this decision with a quirked eyebrow, yet they followed the king as he left all his dignity and jumped to the only pool in the marshland, full of dirt and frogs.

Only when they all were lying tiredly and covered in mud from head to toe did Garnet let out a laugh, followed soon by Eiko and Zidane, leaving Amarant alone in giving sarcastic comments to the weird antics, as usual.

"It would be how s/he wanted to be remembered," Zidane finally explained, laughs fading into a smile, before giving a push to himself up. Tapping his chest, the fading-blonde man said proudly, "Even though there's only half of the team left, let's promise to never change, yeah? Let's remember our friends with laughs and smiles because it would be a disservice to do the other way,"

He then pushed his hand forward, smile growing wider as Garnet too stood up and placed her hand on his, before Eiko joined and all eyes left to wait for the red one to join the group.

Amarant thought that Zidane was too cheerful for his own good. Way too cheerful that he needed to stop; because life's full of enemies and backstabbing friends, accompanied by cruel fate and painful ironies. So it's just doesn't do, he mused, for someone like him to be like that. And believe Amarant when he thought so because he's been experiencing those all first handedly.

But he took his words back the moment he saw how broken his companion looked, as he hold the belated queen's hand from their bedside; tears of hurt and pain and so much more trailing down his cheeks even though anyone with eyes could tell that he's been crying since last night.

Queen Garnet til Alexandros the XVII was beautiful and still does even when she's lying on her deathbed; nothing giving out her lifeless state unless a careful note on how her chest didn't rise and fall breathing as how normal, sleeping people would do.

For the first time in his life King Zidane Tribal the First didn't know what to do; he could only nod in agreement as the royal advisers dictated the funeral process out of old, worn out pages in the middle of the large, and somehow emptier main hall.

_Garnet is gone. Garnet is gone. And he's all alone in this world._

He was too caught up in his own misery that he didn't realize Eiko was already there, patting his shoulder gently, ushering him to take a much needed rest as the current Lady of Lindblum proclaimed herself to handle the queen's funeral, with the help of the royal children who were either too shocked to decide on anything or too young to be able to grasp the meaning of 'mother is not coming back' fully.

It was by midnight, after everyone has left that Amarant slipped himself to the main chamber; bottles on hands as he beckoned the silent king for a drink. The offer was rejected, of course, but somehow hours later they both ended amidst the empty bottles on the stairs of the royal throne; Zidane too drunk to even pick himself up and Amarant just sitting there commenting "Pathetic cheap drunk you've become. I suppose rich, pricey wine lessen your hold, eh?" with a dry tone.

Surprisingly, a reply came, "No I am not... it's just... it's just that... that D-dagger... she never let me drink... such kind of drinks anymore... so..." he slurred.

"Blasted royal jerk; you even talk so damn polite when you drunk!" The monk let out a sarcastic laugh, before attempting to reach the last bottle, stopping when it was suddenly snagged away.

Looking up, he found a swaying Zidane hunching with the said bottle in hand. "Lemme show ye," he growled, before downing the whole content in one go.

The once thief couldn't remember anything after that, but he was the least sure that he had heard something around "You better drink more than this on my funeral," along with some more laughs before he closed his eyes for good that night.

Which was why he was now standing with bottles of cheap wine on a wet, freshly dug grave with messy '_'ere lies amerant_' marking engraved on a small stone on top of it. It took a while for him, for them, to track down his grave because somehow the once flaming red head seemed to be swallowed by the earth for the past few months.

"Sorry I missed your funeral, buddy." Zidane started as Eiko kneeled beside the grave, gloved hand carefully caressing the stone as the reality dawned on her –of how she has yet again lost a friend. "But you should know that it's been hella hard to track you down. Could say it's a big luck that we even found you."

"Happy that I'm not a royal jerk anymore?" He laughed, the words no longer feel foreign on his tongue, just like how it was used to, tears threatening to fall yet he hold them, because Eiko was supposed to be, and already was, the one crying, and it should be enough for both of them.

So he settled slowly beside her instead, taking one bottle of the pack he brought, popping off the cork and was surprised that Eiko somehow managed to snatch the thing off his hand, and even so when the woman gulped half of the content in one go.

"Hey hey Ei, what the heck?" The tone he was using clearly meant he wasn't angry; it was more of a parent telling his child to stop whatever they were doing because it was wrong. "Quit the drinking now." He added as he tried to reach for the bottle, yet his only remaining teammate still managed to dodge and continued drinking.

"I'm not a kid anymore, you know," she said, annoyance clear on her voice as she finished the bottle and putting it down beside her. "If there's anyone who shouldn't be drinking this kind of stuff it should be you!"

It took a while for the silence to dawn between them, but Zidane suddenly smiled, before patting her head gently, voice changing from strictness to simply caring, "But you'll always be our youngest member. Always been and will always be. My little sister," he added after a while.

Eiko felt fresh tears gathered on her eyes, "Always?" she whispered, careful not to let her voice break.

Sensing that she's about to cry, Zidane pulled her to his embrace, completely oblivious that the action made her shed her tears.

"Aww," he cooed, "Who said she's not a little girl anymore?"

But Eiko cried and cried, and Zidane let her drink (supposedly just) this time, and then the time next year, and the following years in memoriam of their friend until he could no longer leave the walls of Alexandria Castle due to his health.

"Garland said that I have no age limit," the old king muttered one afternoon, on one of Eiko's frequent visits. The grayish-blue haired woman only sat and kept listening as she peeled the apple carefully with her now, as much as she hated saying it, wrinkled hands.

"You know, come to think of it, I don't know which one is the bigger fool; the creator who thought he already mastered the art of creating immortality or the product who blindly believed whatever the creator told of him."

"Maybe I shouldn't have left Terra after all." At this Eiko stopped, and she opted to leave the still unfinished apple in attempt to answer him. She was already shaking her head and taking a deep breath, signaling the start of her long talk, before the bedridden man continued his words,

"But I didn't regret it." He smiled at her, and Eiko felt her heart fluttered; every ounce of anger evaporated all of the sudden, "I didn't regret it at all, for it has been such a wonderful thing, such a wonderful adventure. To meet the guys from Tantalus, to meet the team, to meet my real family, to meet Kuja, to meet you–"

"...to meet Dagger.."

"And now I'm off to reunite with her again." It was a long pause before he ended his words with an even wider, satisfied smile, before closing his eyes.

"Thank you, Ei... for everything you've done... for me..."

And Eiko Carol-Fabool cried again. She cried, and she didn't even know why–she couldn't decide if it was because Zidane, the only other remaining member of their once party of eight was no longer with her, or was it because she still couldn't win; that it had always been and would forever be Garnet that he only sees, that finally getting the fact about how her love would stay unrequited slapped raw on her face. That even after everything she has done, she's still _the little sister_.

…Or was it she just glad because she could finally let go of her feelings?

But the Lady of Lindblum has no time to cry nor to ponder upon her questions for later in that afternoon she has to present herself to the Royal Board of Alexandria, officially declaring their king has passed away, before offering herself to be able to join the planning of the funeral and next king's, the eldest son, coronation.

From then on, Eiko was very busy. She spent every time she had on either doing her job on the Lindblum Castle, researching and recovering her tribe in Madain Sari, or sleeping in the Sapphire Wings, her 17th birthday present from the belated Regent Cid, on trips back and forth between the two places.

But she never did once skip those occasions every single time the date came; when a new year starts she would pray to Iifa tree as a remembrance of their journey once upon a time. It was also the start of the upcoming rituals of the year; bringing fresh batches of blue daisies for Vivi, before finding the prettiest red roses for Garnet and white ones for Steiner, spending the hot July drinking out a bottle of wine in front of Amarant, just for the sake of showing the man that she has grown up because she has a feeling he never does, before spending a full day in the mud the next month, and spend another solemn moment in the what's left of Tantalus' hideout the day after.

And when the wet weather on mid-November comes, she would pass the night lying on Popos Heights, watching the stars as she wondered how long it would take until she could join her friends again. Because it's not fair; why it should be her to be left alone doing all the jobs? Wasn't she one of the youngest? Vivi got it easy, and for that reason and a couple more, she was jealous of him.

.

"G'andmam... g'andmam... awe you goin' sumwhe'?" A voice pulled Eiko from her nap. She opened her eyes to see one of Zidane and Garnet's grandchildren, a girl only three years old standing beside her on her bed with two small ponytails and a horn adorning his head.

"No, sweetheart," she smiled, hiding her tired expression, "Why do you think so?"

She tilted her head, "Weally? A wady told me to say guh-bye to g'andmam cus g'andmam's gonna leave,"

"Oh? And really?"

The girl nodded a couple of time, "Weally! The wady looks so pwetty so she must not be lying! Actually..." she paused for a few moments, bringing her head closer to her grandmother before whispering on her ears, "Twas' s'pose to be a big su'pwaise!"

"Is that so?" Eiko patted her head, "Well, let's say I _am_ going to leave, then what would you do?"

The little girl then wrapped her tiny arms on her neck before landing a kiss on her left cheek, "I wove you, g'andmam! Come back soon and bring me lotsa candies, 'mmkay?"

The violet eyed woman smiled before returning the hug, "I love you too, dear. Now why don't you run along and let grandmam have a little more nap?"

She nodded and climbed down the bed, only to stop after opening the door with awe on her face. She then turned back to her grandmother in the bed, "G'andmam, the wady's here to see you and she bwings lotsa fwends!" And with that she slipped off the door.

Eiko sat with a plain expression on her face, waiting for the person, or the people to enter her room. Who could they be? She was certain that she had cancelled all her appointment today in favor of a day off.

But when a long black haired young woman entered the room, followed by a young man with eyes that reminded her of the sky, a rather short black mage, a dragoness clad in red, a flaming-haired guy along with a noisy knight and a _thing_, she couldn't stop a naughty grin replacing her usual polite expression,

And suddenly everything was how it was supposed to be. Jumping from her bed in barely contained excitement, Eiko put her hands on her hips as she looked up to her teammates, just like old times;

"Took you guys long enough!"


End file.
